He doubted that she would agree with the analysis that she was virtually imprisoned, but the wolf in him wanted to howl at her to break free.
Twenty-eight days, the exact length of a moon cycle, had passed since the young males had been left on Shrifthet. The king was extremely pleased, but a little astounded that they had all managed to find girls who fell in love with them and agreed to go to Lunark. Even Harefoot O'Moors. Grey kept his opinion about the value of Harry's potential contribution to the gene pool to himself and trusted that nature would work it out.
Love had to be powerful to persuade people to give up everything and everyone they had ever known - forever - and face the unknown. But the boys had done it. They'd made humans fall in love with them. For a fleeting moment Grey wondered if he had it in him to do the same.
No doubt they had been assisted by the serious imbalance in the ratio of males to females, but still, they had done it. The young bloods had mates who were going to happily bear young werewolves and snuggle close to them on cold winter nights.
Deliverance had moved all the Elk Mountain immigrants to Lunark and was taking the last of the newlyweds. After that there would be one more stop on Throenark. Grey's heart seized. His hand went to his chest out of reflex because, for a moment, he felt like he couldn't breathe. He couldn't imagine not seeing Luna again, not hearing her laugh, not seeing her form a question in those exotic copper eyes. But that was exactly what was going to happen at the end of their afternoon together.
"You seem sad today. What is it?" she asked.
He stopped walking and faced her. "Will you do something for me?"
He saw that old wariness flicker across her features. "If I can. What is it?"
"Will you let your hood down and let me see your hair?"
She searched his face for a second or two before reaching up and dropping the hood so that it fell to her back. She pulled thick waves of mahogany tresses free and let them fall around her face and shoulders, watching him with a question in her eyes. Suddenly she laughed and it was his turn to look at her with a question in his eyes.
"I was just thinking about how much this is like the fairytale. You know, Red Riding Hood."
"Fairytale?"
"You don't know the story?"
He shook his head. She proceeded to tell an abbreviated version of the story as they walked and didn't cover her hair again with her hood. She ended with, "...except you're not a wolf, of course." And then she laughed.
She noticed that Grey wasn't laughing. "About that..."
He glanced at his watch. He'd run out of time. Deliverance would be waiting to take him back to Elk Mountain. The king's gaze jerked to Luna's and she saw unmistakable panic there.
"Grey. What's wrong?"
His mouth tried to work. "I can't." He swallowed really hard. "I can't leave you."
"What do you mean?"
Stalkson Grey, the great alpha king of the wolf people of Elk Mountain, master of self-discipline and control, who had never done a single impulsive thing in his life, crouched down, bent the Vergin over his shoulder and began running with her. It was only thirty yards to where Deliverance would be waiting.
Luna was so deeply stunned she would have lost her breath even if the action of being jostled by the uneven pressure of Grey's shoulder didn't rob her of breath. But before they reached the demon, she had recovered enough voice and presence of mind to raise a ruckus. She was also pulling his long hair in a way that was so painful he finally slapped her on the most generous portion of the curve of her derriere, which stunned her into silence again for a few seconds.
It would be hard to say who was more shocked by the scene that unfolded, Deliverance or Luna.
"Take hold of my arm and take us to Elk Mountain now. Hurry."
Deliverance just gaped at Grey. "Wolf, have you lost your mind?"
Grey was breathing hard and talking fast in the maelstrom of Luna's flying fists and kicking feet. "I have not lost my mind. I have found my mind.
"I heard your daughter tell you to help me get what I need and this is what I need. Her." Deliverance still balked in indecision. "Demon, I'm going to use a word I have never used before. Ever. Not once in my life. Please."
Not being able to argue with that, the demon grasped Grey's wrist and rode them through the passes right into the king's living room. Stalkson set Luna down on her feet and with a scream of outrage she launched herself at him.
"Well," said Deliverance. "I'll leave you to it, but, just so you know, there are no werewolves on Shrifthet. She's not going to believe you when you try to tell her what you are."
Luna grabbed for the demon. "You will not leave me here you..." And he was gone.
She wheeled on Grey with murder in her eyes. He knew he should be ashamed of himself. He knew there was nothing funny about the situation. But having her there in his own house, even with her looking like she would kill him the first time he went to sleep, was more pleasurable than anything in memory.
There was nothing about his attraction to her that made sense. It might even be insane. But it felt so good that he couldn't find it in himself to be sorry. He didn't want to smile as he faced the infuriated beauty, but he couldn't help himself. Naturally, that infuriated her all the more.
"You kidnapped me!" She reached for a wooden totem figure and threw it at his head.
He ducked. "I prefer to think of it as a romantic abduction."
She gaped. "Romantic!" The fact that she was alone with Grey and, perhaps, at his mercy seemed to creep into her awareness and onto her expression. "Where is this?"
"Elk Mountain." He looked around. "This is my house."
"It's freaking cold here. Do you know that?"
He looked at her bare arms and the thin silk fabric and remembered that she came from a balmy climate.
"Here. Let me start a fire and I'll get you some warmer clothes."
When he started toward the fire, she dashed for the front door. He grabbed her before she got there and pulled her back into his body wrapping his arms around her waist. The feel of her body pressed close to him and the aroma of her hair almost brought him to his knees. It was exponentially better than any of the thousands of times he had tried to imagine how it would feel.
"Luna. Listen to me. You're not in your world anymore. You're in mine. The demon brought you here for me. There's no place for you to go and no one to go to.
"You know me. You know I won't hurt you. I'll take care of you and I'll... care for you."
Luna knew the appropriate reaction was fear, but, oddly enough, she wasn't afraid. Angry? Definitely. But not afraid. As much as she wanted to hate the feel of his warmth pressing against her, she relaxed a little, deciding to play nice and bide her time.
"The last thing I want is to restrain you. If I let go, will you let me light a fire and get you something warm to wear?"
She nodded. Not nearly ready to trust her, Grey backed toward the hearth without taking his eyes away from her.
He lit the fire and put a mug of mulled wine on the hearth to warm. She followed without resistance when he took her by the hand to go with him in search of clothes. He covered her upper body by pulling a denim shirt lined with soft flannel over her robe then covered her feet, sandals and all, with heavy wool socks. When she started to feel a little warmer, she began to calm, but her eyes were still wide and her pupils were dilated.
Grey bade her sit by the fire and handed her the warm mulled wine. Without taking her eyes off him she took a tiny sip. A moan of pleasure almost escaped her throat, but she strangled it with a swallow. Within a couple of minutes the wine was working its magic. She was feeling warm and more relaxed.
"Are you hungry?" asked the king.
She shook her head. "Why did you take me?" Luna watched the shadows of the flames dance on his cheek and reflect hypnotically in his eyes while he formulated an answer.
"Did you like me? Before I took you?"
She hesitated, but decided to tell the truth. "You know I did."
>
"Right before I grabbed you, if I had told you that I would never be coming back, that you'd never see me again, how would you have felt about that?"
"It... would have made me sad."
"Well, that is what was about to happen. And it made me more than sad. The idea of never seeing you again made me feel like I couldn't breathe. It made my heart hurt."
As much as she wanted to beat him with a stick, she felt her own heart soften at that. What sort of woman wouldn't respond to such an admission?
"I didn't plan it or think it through. Completely. I just knew I couldn't face the idea of waking up tomorrow morning knowing the separation was permanent."
She searched his eyes, but didn't want to reveal that her initial rage receded further with every word he spoke. "And I get no choice in the matter?"
"Do you remember telling me how you came to your vocation?"
She nodded, frowning. "Yes. What...?"
"Did you have a choice?" She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips so prettily it caused an arousal to stir uncomfortably in the confines of his jeans. She was glaring in a way that challenged the part of him that was wolf to claim her so that she would know their joining was a fait accompli, not up for debate. "You came to embrace that life so that now you do choose it. You'll do the same with me."
"I won't."
"You will."
"I can't believe I thought I liked you."
His smile turned wolfish. "Luna. You do like me. Your body tells me so."
"That's nonsense and not at all true."
"Liar." He pointed to his nose. "Great sense of smell."
She stared blankly until she comprehended the reference. Then a blush colored her cheeks and looked so hot he didn't think he could suppress a low growl of interest.
"I don't like it here." She rubbed her arms like they were still bare. "It's cold."
He moved closer. "All the better to warm you."
"Stay away from me. Just take me back. I want to go home."
"Why?"
"Why?" She repeated it and then gaped as if she couldn't believe it would need further explanation.
"Why do you want to go back?"
"It's my home. It's my work. It's everything that feels comfortable and familiar. My sisters are my family." He nodded slowly like he understood, which only served to renew her fury. She wanted to say something that would erode his self-assuredness. "And then there was sex with Deliverance".
Luna felt the deepest wave of satisfaction wash over her as she watched the varying emotions play out on Grey's face. Something in her womanly instinct told her that a reference to intimacy with Deliverance would be a taunt that would make her captor go wild with jealousy. On some level she had also known it could be dangerous to provoke a man crazy enough to nab her from her own home in broad daylight.
Stalkson Grey felt a red hazed rage wash over him. He snarled and howled. The snarling terrified her. The howling sent her running for the door. He caught her easily and carried her back to the chair she'd left in spite of kicking, screaming, pinching, slapping, and, worst of all, hair pulling. When he dumped her in the chair, the unmistakable huff and look of warning on his face caused her to decide that she had pushed him as far as she wanted to push for the moment. She stilled and tried her best not to look as frightened as she felt.
She sat in the chair and watched, aghast, as he ripped pillows with his teeth. He picked up furniture and threw it against the wall in a way that suggested inhuman strength.
The front door flew open and revealed several faces crowded together on the porch. The man who entered without an invitation bore enough of a resemblance to Grey to be a brother. He looked around at the destruction with a wrinkled brow. Then he looked at Luna huddled with her body drawn up for protection. Last, he turned to his father with confusion all over his face.
"Dad! What are you doing? Have you completely lost your mind?"
Stalkson Grey stopped abruptly. "Maybe." He glanced at his son then went back to staring at Luna with his chest heaving and his eyes burning with anger. "But it's none of your business. Get out."
Windwalker didn't move. He jerked his head toward Luna. "Who is that?"
"This is none of your business, Win. The young lady and I are negotiating."
Win gaped.
Grey growled low in his throat in a way that made the hairs on the back of Luna's neck stand straight up. "Please don't make me tell you again."
Win backed out and closed the door. For a minute they heard voices outside and then everything was quiet.
Grey kicked one of the destroyed cushions out of the way as he stalked back to stoke the fire. He threw himself back into his chair. At least he had retained enough presence of mind to spare his favorite chair and the one on which Luna sat, looking terrified. He faced Luna, still breathing heavy. She looked around while he stared at her, afraid to meet his gaze.
When she heard his breathing even out to normal, she said, "There's another room with some stuff you didn't destroy yet." Grey took in a deep sigh and slumped further against his chair. "Why did that guy call you Dad? He's the same age as you."
The king took in a deep sigh. "He's not the same age. We look the same age because we're not human."
Luna was nonplussed. It was certainly not the reaction he'd expected. "Not human?" Her eyes wandered down his body. "Is that what the snarling was about? You know that tearing-things-up-with-your-teeth thing is not attractive. In fact it makes you look sort of crazy."
"I'm not crazy, Luna. I'm a werewolf."
She stared for a few beats before shaking her head. "No idea what that means."
"You never heard of werewolves?"
"Look, Grey, if there's something you want to say then say it. This welcome to your home hasn't really put me in the mood for games."
"I can shift between man and wolf."
"By shift, you mean you change into a wolf."
"Yes. Everybody here does."
"Everybody in your world?"
"No, everyone you will encounter near my home while you're here with me."
She noted the loophole. If he said "while you're here" then he wasn't planning to keep her forever. "And how long will that be?"
He hadn't thought far enough in advance to formulate an answer to that question. At length he said, "When you no longer want to leave, then you can go."
"Is that a riddle?"
"No. It's the truth."
"Okay, look, I said no games. If you're going to persist in this werewolf fantasy, which - by the way - is a weird choice, then I can only conclude you're not just a kidnapper, but a crazed kidnapper who's very good at fooling girls who go for innocent walks in the woods."
"It was not a kidnapping. It was a romantic abduction."
He got up and left the room. She heard some faint rustling followed by soft clicking on the hardwood floor. When a large black wolf with yellow gold eyes peeked around the side of her chair, she shrieked and jerked back. The wolf quickly moved in front of her and put his head in her lap while gazing at her with soft, imploring eyes.
The adrenaline sent pinpricks of unpleasant tingling through her nervous system, but the tension in her muscles relaxed. It was clear the wolf didn't intend to harm her.
"Stalkson Grey?" She said it quietly, wanting to get Grey's attention without alarming the beast. The wolf bumped her leg with his nose.
"Stalkson Grey?" she repeated just a little louder and, again, the wolf bumped her leg with his nose.
Her eyes grew big as she began to consider the possibility of the impossible.
"Is that you, Grey?" she whispered. He bumped her with his nose.
She would have liked to simply faint and give herself a ten minute break from consciousness, but, unfortunately, she remained wide awake and clear headed. So far as she could tell.
She looked into his eyes, not knowing that wolves usually don't like that. Even Grey thought it was odd that he didn't feel an adverse reaction.
"Werewolf."
He picked his big head up and looked at her intently with ears standing straight up like he understood exactly what was being said.
Then, as if she hadn't already had more than her quota of excitement for the day, he smoothly shifted in the form of a man. A beautiful man who also happened to be beautifully naked. His penis was exactly at face level with where Luna sat in the chair. She tried to drag her eyes upward to his face, but they had an agenda of their own and intended to stay put until they'd had their fill of admiring the utter perfection of his male equipment. His skin was evenly tanned, as if he'd actually been out in the sun without clothes. It was also smooth and hairless except for a dusting of light brown on his arms and legs and a slightly darker trail leading downward from his navel.
As she became vaguely aware that he was speaking, she finally managed to look up.
"So you're challenging me to satisfy you sexually as well as Deliverance did."
Shock registered on her face and she quickly began shaking her head. "No! That's NOT what I'm doing."
"That's what it sounded like to me. You'll have to tell me what to do, but one thing is certain. Whatever he does, I can do."
It took a minute for her brain to make sense of what was happening. She was aware of the fact that possessing a mind that adapts to new circumstances quickly was a survival trait, but she didn't think anyone could adapt to so much so fast. In the space of an hour she'd been kidnapped and taken to another dimension with no means of escape. She'd watched her captor demolish his own living quarters. She'd not only learned that there were supernatural creatures called werewolves, but that she'd been abducted by one. And now the werewolf, who was hung like a masterpiece, wanted to know how he could please her sexually.
Her assessment only concluded that the scenario was as improbable as a fantasy and comical in a way that it shouldn't be. She snorted with disbelief then laughed from deep in her throat. Luna didn't intend for her laugh to conjure images of wild nights, but that's the way it affected Grey. So much so that the sound of it made his balls pull tight.
It also made him angry. "Why are you laughing?"
She shook her head. "Honestly. This is all so bizarre I just don't know what else to do."
Moonlight: The Big Bad Wolf (Black Swan 4) Page 19
